From the address by JENNY COTTRELL, Reflexologist,
to The IN Group meeting, held Wednesday 9th May 2001 at the Balwyn
Library Meeting Room, 336 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn.Home | About | Newsletters | INvoice
From the address by JENNY COTTRELL, Reflexologist,
to The IN Group meeting, held Wednesday 9th May 2001 at the Balwyn
Library Meeting Room, 336 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn.
Reflexology is working on the reflexes which appear on your feet, ears and hands and which go to all parts of your body. It fascinates me, especially with GBS when your reflexes are so affected, why a reflexologist is not consulted. We have 140 reflexologists available for work but can’t get full-time reflexology work. Yet it is so successful.
There are four people here tonight whom I have treated. It is a pity that I had not treated them in the early stages of their GBS rather than two or three years later. To work the reflexes which appear in the feet is just magical.
The reflexes of your entire body are mirrored on your feet. We have got head, chest, abdomen, arms and legs. The reflexes are all on the hands and ears as well. Feet are lovely to work with as everybody loves to relax.
In reflexology the theory is that you get a blockage. This can be from a calcium deposit, irritating chemicals, the air you breathe, the food you eat. By working the reflexes, just with our hands, we dislodge the deposits. Therefore, the electric circuit that goes through our body has no longer been affected. You get better health, better nerve supply through the body, better blood supply. This is why we work these areas.
Before I start describing with my wall charts how we work the areas, would people like to be having their feet done, while we talk? I have four reflex-ologists here with me, all keen to do your feet. With so many here we will start at the beginning with reflexing relaxing treatment. It would be very hard to go through the whole system in the time we have got. Fifteen minutes on the feet is much better than none at all. (Four attendees volunteered).
Reflexology is not a new thing. It goes back to ancient Chinese, early Egyptians where in the pyramids they have illustrations of people working on them. It has been effective for thousands of years. Who wants proof of whether it works or not? Reflexologists have got amazing stories to tell of helping with different complaints. It is just a matter of putting the body into balance so it can heal itself.
As you see from the wall charts, the left foot will have all the organs on the left side of the body and the right foot will have the right side organs.
The reflexologists have an association. All have been trained in an accredited school. We undergo examinations with some examiners coming from the USA. We are covered by the health service now. If you want to contact your nearest reflexologist contact Reflexology Association of Australia Inc Vic tel 9899 4760.
It is fascinating that the big toe, other toes and the fingers relate to the head and neck. So if we have any head or neck problems we work the big toes, other toes and fingers. So if there are problems with nose, eyes, scalp, mouth, teeth, sore throat, we can get amazing results.
It is lovely to get a person, especially a man, who doesn’t believe it will help. He has a shoulder problem and a lovely expression comes on his face when his pain appears to have gone as a result of the reflexology treatment.
The ball of the foot represents the chest area, from front to back. The ears are wonderful if you are having breathing problems. Just a stroke inside the ear calmed down a patient one day who had terrible trouble breathing, gasping for breath.
We come down to the softer part, the abdomen. The line across the sole will tell a lot about the abdomen. Treatment can be done by oneself as it only needs a foot roller or a golf ball, marbles, something you can roll your feet on. The lower abdomen, the bowel regions, can also be helped with foot rolling, the reflexology helping to remove the toxins.
The heels represent the pelvic area which include the reproductive features. They can be quite painful. Working on the heels can help bring everything in balance, especially with women undergoing change of life. It is also a good area for the sciatic nerve.
Those GBS affected persons I have spoken to recalled how painful their feet were in the early days of GBS, so much so they couldn’t even stand anyone touching the skin. It would be very interesting for a reflexologist to meet them at that time and give them some gentle footwork. If the feet were too sensitive then one would go to the hands. The hands are not so sensitive as the feet as we use them so much and they are tougher.
When I was training to be a reflexologist I used my husband to practise on. He began ‘There is nothing wrong with my feet" but off came his shoes and socks. The pain was so incredible in his toes that he screamed yet walking around was not painful. He also had terrible hips from his football – he has had hip replacement. He will be out working now and if his hips start to ache he will come in, sit on a chair and says "Quick work on my heels". It is so effective.
A mother called me a few weeks ago about her 2 ½ year old son who suffered from convulsions if he went outside, his eyes fluttered all the time. No medication seemed to be effective. She brought him in but the boy would not let his toes be touched. At the next week’s treatment he allowed some touching and at the third week he was much calmer and allowed five minutes treatment on his toes. She did not come for the next two weeks but reported her son had no convulsions and no eye flutters. This was a minutest time working on brain reflexes.
The ear did not come into reflexology until about 1957 when a Dr Paul Nosier came up with the ear reflexes. The lobes represent our heads. The inner ridge represents our backbone. Higher up on the ear represents the hips. Massaging the inner ear lobe will overcome tiredness of the eyes. Other spots refer to allergies, toothache, and throat soreness. The whole idea is balancing the body.
P K Copra did some work to show that tissues hold memories. He was with a woman patient who had had a heart and lung transplant. The patient hated McDonalds’s food but after the transplant had a terrific desire for McDonald’s chips. She then found out that the donor had died through a car accident on the way to a McDonald’s restaurant.
Questions & Answers & Comments
Q. Do the reflexology points match up to acupuncture points?
R. Yes, they do.
Q. Do you use any instruments?
R. No, just the hands, particularly the thumbs.
Q. How can reflexology work when the nerve conduction has been lost due to GBS?
R. This is difficult and that is why I believe reflexologists should be allowed to work in hospitals to perform at the early stages of disorders like GBS.
C. I have become somewhat of a convert as I have found Jenny Cottrell’s reflexology massage has helped give me more foot movement from my GBS "footdrop".
Q. The medical fraternity and the sciences say that medical treatment has advanced, particularly in recent years, due to the scientific evaluation of proposed treatments. Doctors normally won't prescribe treatment unless it has had successful scientific evaluation. What scientific evaluation has been done on reflexology?
R. Reflexology is very difficult to scientifically evaluate. Many people around the world are working on it and making great progress. It is not going to harm, it will relax you.
(During the evening another eight attendees were given the reflexology foot massage and all reported a pleasurable, relaxing outcome.)
Steve Campbell, Molly’s husband, will be endeavouring to publicise the nature of these neuropathies on Radio Bendigo. He will be particularly high-lighting the need for more blood donors to overcome the continuing shortage of Intragam. Kylie Miller, Deputy Editor, "The Age Green Guide", is being asked to do likewise with the Melbourne print media.
Now is the time to purchase the Entertainment Book that will give you a discount of some 25%/$25 when you dine out, go to a movie or a sport’s function from now on until June 2002.
Purchase your Book at our Winter Social Luncheon for $55 or else have it posted for $60. As well as enjoying the discount you will also be benefiting The IN Group by $11 for every Book purchased.
Our now annual Cake Stall held at Maling Road Canterbury on Saturday morning 12th May was another great success. A total of $917 (including direct monetary donation of $165) was raised from the sale of the many cakes, jams, biscuits, quinces, pumpkins, made and donated by many of our members.
Our thanks to the three who manned the stall and made many cakes - MARGARET LAWRENCE (the initiator and main organiser of this fundraising feature), BETTY GERRAND and BARBARA RIVETT – as well as the many other contributors who included DOROTHY BRENNAN, BRON-WYN CLARKE, BARBARA CLIFFORD, BETTY GERMANO, ROSEMARY Mac-QUALTER, RAE MALCOLM, JOYCE MONTGOMERY and ANON.
Member MOLLY GUNTARIK-CAMP-BELL raised $496.25 as a donation to The IN Group for medical research through inviting her family and friends to consider a donation as a birthday present for her 50th birthday celebration. A wonderful idea leading to a great success. Many thanks, Molly.
Margaret Lawrence will again be our hostess for The IN Group Winter Social Luncheon to be held from noon on 17h June at her home 26 Belmont Street, Glen Waverley. $15 will provide a lovely luncheon which will also be raising funds for medical research.
An added attraction is that member JULIE LONCAR will give a talk on Hypnotherapy.
James Gerrand visited new member NOEL PETHERBRIDGE, recovering from CIDP at the Austin Hospital. Both Noel and wife Jan appreciated the visit. The occasion was of unusual interest when a Melbourne University Medical Professor arrived with six of his students to use Noel as a "guinea pig" to test the students ability to diagnose Noel’s rare disorder.
To The Editor "The Age"
Dr Wooldridge, Federal Minister for Health
Jenny Macklin, Federal Shadow Minister for Health
Democrat Senator Alison
No evidence of medical harm from mobile phones
Senator Allison's proposal for a $5 annual levy on mobile phone users to fund research into possible health risks from their usage demonstrates either her scientific illiteracy or her lack of reading about the subject.
There has been no evidence of harm from mobile phone usage from a number of scientific studies nor is it likely from the physics of the low level of their radiation in relation to impact on our bodily cells. The latest and largest study was a Danish one (Feb 2001) of 420,095 mobile phone users over a 13 year period. The study found the incidence of all cancers among them was lower than the general population. This study follows two US studies (Dec 2000) which also showed no evidence of increased cancer risk from using mobiles.
This ridiculous proposal to raise $40 million for research for which there is no evidence of medical harm is particularly upsetting to me as Director of the Inflammatory Neuropathy Support Group of Victoria Inc. Our Group desperately seeks adequate funds for research into the known medical disorders of GBS and CIDP. Just $1 million dollars would enable research to probably identify the causes of these auto-immune conditions to not only cure many sufferers but also save our Health Services many hundreds of thousands of dollars in treatment. The National Health & Medical Research Council does its best with its limited funding but cannot provide for all the needed amounts.
James Gerrand,
Director.